Think Teamwork, Not Self-Promotion
A friend emailed me asking if I would pass along information about a product just coming out. The email was a sale pitch I could pick up and pass on. The rest of the message was over the top for me — kind of pushy and kind of “wink, wink, nudge, nudge — you help me and I’ll help you later.”
I didn’t find that compelling. What I found was a way to say, “I’m sorry, not this one.”
It takes time to build a network. No one wants to abuse theirs, but wasn’t investment partly for support when we need it? What’s the right way to enlist the support of the people we call our colleagues?
I asked a few friends . . . they led me to these steps.
In his blog post, War Paint and Promotion, Todd Jordan offers these words of wisdom . . .
Itââ¬â¢s partially about having something great to say, but itââ¬â¢s equally about sharing your story and making them a part of it.
Keep them as you read through these.
0. Seed the garden. As Dave Navarro said, ” . . . Spend time either a) getting *their* name out or b) helping them move forward on their site goals … well before you need promo.” via Twitter.
1. Offer something worth sharing. Sure I love you, but if your product is bad or boring. I’m going to find it hard to pass it on to the other friends in my network. <
2. Show confidence and courtesy. If you get nervous, self-conscious, or overly humorous, It makes it seem like your products can’t stand on its own.
3. Let me opt in! Tell me about what you have in a way that leaves me lots of room to choose for myself. If you hang your promotion on our relationship, you might find that our relationship wasn’t strong enough to carry it.
4. Make it easy to talk about you — have a simple message. You can offer me the way to say what your point is, but don’t give me a speech.
5. Give me a way to feel proud. I’m going to be sharing your message with other folks I care about.
And Don’t forget . . .
what. Martin Neumann said.
–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz!!